-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- `` Star Wars '' makeup artist Stuart Freeborn , who helped create Chewbacca , Yoda , Jabba the Hutt and the otherworldly creatures in the trilogy 's famous barroom scene , has died , Lucasfilm said Wednesday .

He was 98 .

A creature effects artist , Freeborn also worked on other film classics and was responsible for creating the apelike human ancestors in the `` Dawn of Man '' sequence in `` 2001 : A Space Odyssey . ''

He also did the makeup for Peter Sellers in `` Doctor Strangelove , '' Lucasfilm said on its starwars.com website .

`` Stuart was already a makeup legend when he started on ` Star Wars , ' '' said George Lucas , creator of the films .

`` He brought with him not only decades of experience , but boundless creative energy . His artistry and craftsmanship will live on forever in the characters he created . His ` Star Wars ' creatures may be reinterpreted in new forms by new generations , but at their heart , they continue to be what Stuart created for the original films , '' Lucas said in a statement .

Playful , impish and imaginative , Freeborn played a pivotal role in developing the character Yoda for `` The Empire Strikes Back . ''

Director Irvin Kershner said Freeborn put his own image into Yoda the Jedi Master , giving the character inquisitive and elfin features with `` more than a passing resemblance to Freeborn himself , '' Lucasfilm said .

Freeborn also put his skills to work in `` Oliver Twist , '' `` The Bridge on the River Kwai , '' `` The Omen , '' four `` Superman '' films , `` Top Secret ! '' and `` The Great Muppet Caper . ''

Among the more memorable sequences in the `` Star Wars '' film is the Mos Eisley Cantina , which Freeborn and his team populated by creating Greedo , Walrus Man and Snaggletooth .

He also worked on the tauntaun and wampa ice creatures in `` The Empire Strikes Back . ''

`` Return of the Jedi '' is considered the `` monster movie '' of the trilogy , and Freeborn and his team in the United Kingdom developed Jabba the Hutt , which was a massive puppet , and the teddy-bear-like Ewoks .

He was often joined in his makeup work by wife Kay , who died last year , and son Graham , who died in 1996 .

People we lost in 2013 : The lives they lived

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Creature effects artist Stuart Freeborn fashioned Yoda in his own image

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He also helped create Chewbacca , Jabba the Hutt and the creatures in the bar scene

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He also created the apelike ancestors in `` 2001 : A Space Odyssey ''

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`` His artistry and craftsmanship will live on ... in the characters he created , '' Lucas says